Immigrant family opens Crepe O’Clock restaurant in Evanston

The traditional story of immigrant success gets a sweet and savory update at the northwest corner of Chicago Avenue and Dempster Street in Evanston.

Instead of hearty, sticky dishes like omelets, gyros and prime rib typically eaten at many neighborhood favorite Greek restaurants, a family of restaurateurs are opting for a lighter touch with Greek-style pancakes as their main menu choice, replicating their former restaurant in a village 400 miles west of Athens.

Crepe O’Clock — the latter word an affectionate joke referring to the non-English-speaking family patriarch/cook finding a certain English word unpronounceable — opened Dec. 23 in the former space of an Asian restaurant at 601 Dempster. They’ve already received good reviews from diners ready to try their Old World recipes.

“We came for a better future, for a better life,” said Panagiotis (Pete) Georgopoulos, who immigrated with his father Leonidas Georgopoulos in 2014.

Mother Vasiliki Stratikopoulou arrived a year later. Brother Chris Georgopoulos recently immigrated. They had heard about America all their lives from a grandfather who owned the Aladdin Hotel near Chicago’s Midway Airport before returning to Greece.

The family had been looking for a catering site for years, but Covid put their plans on hold. They wanted a menu that contrasted with the more common dishes found in nearby restaurants. And the emphasis on crepes along with a few other traditional Greek dishes and imported French croissants was a departure from old-school Greek restaurants that transcended ethnic boundaries to offer something for everyone.

“We wanted to settle in Evanston,” said Stratikopoulou, who lived in the city when he arrived. “We needed somewhere up to code because any kind of smoke needed to be removed. It couldn’t be just any storefront.

“We put everything we have into the business.”

Crepe O’Clock is essentially the American version of Quick, the old family restaurant in Filiatra, a village of some 5,000 people in Messinia near the coast of the Ionian Sea. The family described Quick as a “grab and go” place that did well with local lunchers and tourists.

Greek pancakes are thicker than their better-known French counterparts. “We just put more eggs in it,” Stratikopoulou said. “We make the pancake batter daily. There’s no other way.”

Avoiding salt as an ingredient, “savory” pancakes contain bacon, cheese and tomato or ham and cheese. A sample of the former gave the look of a classic omelette without the heaviness inherent in a two or three egg dish. All-vegetable, Greek (feta, olives, tomatoes, peppers, onions and oregano), “Chick’n’Veg Supreme”, meat lovers and “hangover” pancakes round out the savory category.

The sweet side with natural flavors is the Rafaello crepe with coconut, Nutella and strawberries, while the Valentine crepe replaces the coconut custard.

Georgopoulos said diners can order custom ingredients for all crepes.

Sally of Evanston and Lori of Chicago, who did not want their last names used, dined on pancakes while the family told their story. Literally hailing her “Chick’n’Veg” pancake, Sally praised the “combination of taste and texture”. Lori didn’t want a crepe per se, but said her all-plant crepe made it “taste like a crepe.” Both said they would come back for more.

Other menu items include a chicken gyros sandwich using breast meat and not made from the classic gyros spindle, several other sandwiches, spanakopita (Greek spinach pie), and freshly baked pastries to complement the imported croissants. Greek coffee leads the Java selection.

The family is also planning an outdoor patio on Chicago Avenue and sidewalk tables on Dempster when the weather warms.

Leonidas Georgopoulos will eventually learn to pronounce the restaurant’s full name, family members said, when he takes breaks from the kitchen, which start before 5:30 a.m.

“My dad couldn’t pronounce the phrase ‘time,'” Pete Georgopoulos said. “It came out at one o’clock. That’s why we used it in the title of the restaurant.”

If the family isn’t busy enough at Crepe O’Clock, they devote their hours to careers in the medical profession. Stratikopoulou, who was an English teacher in Greece, started here and is a psychotherapist. Pete Georgopoulos is studying to become a nurse practitioner. Brother Chris is a pharmacist.

The food may not be that of a traditional Greek restaurant, but the motivation is as old as the history of immigration.

“I’m doing this for my two boys,” Stratikopoulou said. They are very intelligent.